Contrary to some of the gloomy headlines out there, our preliminary internal data paints a very different picture about update progress:

* 90 percent of people who’ve received an update notification have installed the new software patch successfully. (So when your turn to download it arrives, chances are good this will be a non-event.)

* Of the 10 percent who did experience a problem, nearly half failed for two basic reasons—a bad Internet connection or insufficient computer storage space. Luckily, both are easy to fix.

Has the update process has gone perfectly?
No—but few large-scale software updates ever do, and the engineering team here was prepared. Of course, when it’s your phone that’s having a problem—or you’re the one waiting—it’s still aggravating. That’s why we’re committed to learning from our first update and improving the process. We know we have work to do, and we won’t be satisfied until you are.

As the teams here continue to monitor the ongoing update, I’ll report back if there are any other noteworthy developments. Meanwhile, let me address a few other questions I’ve been seeing, here and elsewhere.

Q: I’ve read there are problems updating Samsung phones. Is this true?
A: We’ve identified a technical issue with the Windows Phone update process that impacts a small number of Samsung phones. We’re working to correct the problem as quickly as possible. But as a precaution, we’ve briefly suspended updates to Samsung phones. We are continuing to update other Windows Phone models as scheduled.

Q: How can I make the update go more smoothly when my turn comes?
A: Given what we’ve learned so far, the best way to prepare for your update is to make sure your computer has an Internet connection and plenty of disk space before you begin. Why? Because before updating your phone, the Zune software and Windows Phone 7 Connector for Mac attempt to back up your phone data as a precaution. For more details, see Make room on my computer for phone updates.